Charlotte Rains Dixon

My book on the Staff Favorite shelf at the Cannon Beach Book Store, courtesy of my daughter.

Back to the Basics, Or Not

Writers can always benefit by going back to the basics, right?  Or not?  And more to the point, if you've been writing for awhile, have you tried going back to the basics recently?  It is not that easy.

Going back to the basics seems like a good idea.  You get the desire to strip it down, make things simple, relearn from the beginning again.  Except you are no longer the person that you were when you started out so very long ago.  And it is hard to fit your expanded self into that smaller box.

What is called for is a framework.

I went to high school during the heyday of the Open Classroom movement.  Education wasn't working and a new approach was needed.  So, no, it wasn't back to the basics, it was the opposite--a very free and easy approach where students directed their learning to a large extent.

Consequently, I became quite the free thinker.  But to this day, I have huge gaps in my education, particularly when it comes to reading the classics.  (Ironic, no? Considering as how I am a writer.)  Oh, I read some of them on my own, but when it comes to classics, reading in an educational setting is much better.  I needed a framework.  And finally I found it when I started working toward my MFA.  (I won't call it studying, because it was so much fun.  Two years devoted mostly to writing and reading.  Heaven.)

Once I had the framework of writing an essay about my reading, with mentors responding to those essays, I could dip back into some of the classics that I had missed.

What got me thinking about all of this is knitting.  I'm an off and on knitter and a terrible finisher.  I love starting a new knitting project more than anything--choosing the yarn, casting on, seeing the work start to grow!  But then I get bored and set it aside.

Lately, though, I've realized that perhaps I get bored because I don't know enough about what I'm doing.  Despite the fact I've been knitting since I was a wee child, there's lots I don't know about it.  I was taught by the odd 4H leader here, my aunt there.  Much like my high school education, there was never a consistent framework for it.

This weekend I found the framework, a book called Fearless Knitting, written by a technical writer, bless her heart, who knows how to translate confusing information into plain English.  The author, Jennifer Seiffert, had the bright idea to take a line of traditional knitting instruction, then not only explain what it means, but why you are supposed to do that.  Brilliant.  Each explanation illustrates a larger technique and you make a square to well and truly learn how to do it.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there could be such a framework for writing?  An explanation of not only the how, but the why?  Alas, I don't think it is possible, because the craft of writing is much more amorphous than the craft of knitting.  Many of the why explanations would be something along the lines of, because you want to entertain the reader.  Or, because you want to create an emotional response in the reader.

Or am I wrong?  Can you think of any aspects of writing that could be explained in a succinct why explanation?  What does going back to the basics in writing mean to you?  Practicing writing exercises?  Reading or re-reading books about writing?  Are there any basics you'd like explanations of?  Comment away.

Seeing With Fresh Eyes

The other day, I was out walking in a neighborhood next to mine.  And for some reason, I started thinking about the name of the neighborhood that I live in, which is Rose City Park.  And the thought occurred to me that it is a lovely, evocative name.  This is something I've always known, but forgot. 

As I walked I pondered how cool it sounds when someone asks what part of Portland I live in.

"Oh, Rose City Park."

Something about that sounds so elegant.  There are roses involved for one thing.  And then there is the element of having a city within a city.   As if our little enclave is so important it has been elevated to city status, even though we're just a neighborhood.  And then you add on the park part and that evokes images of lush green and tall firs.  All of which are true about the actual park that lies a few blocks away from my house. It is true of the neighborhood itself, come to think of it.  One of the things that drew me here in the first place are the tall firs that tower in nearly every backyard.

But I hadn't thought about the name of the neighborhood for years.

Which got me to thinking.  What else do I need to look at with fresh eyes?  Are there things in my writing that I need to take a new look at?  New genres to try?  New worlds to conquer?  New skills to develop?

I don't have answers for these questions.  But I'm pondering them.  And co-incidentally, I'm thinking a bit about going back to the basics.  About which I will write tomorrow.

In the meantime, how about you?  Have you taken a fresh look at anything recently?  If so, what did you see?  Or does reading this bring to mind an area you think needs some looking at?  Please share.

The Place You Write

I write in my upstairs office which is a converted bedroom.  As I'm writing this post, rain is pounding on the windows and if I turn my head and look out the window, I can see into the backyard, which is lush and green and full of just-blossoming flowers.  At least they were ready to blossom before this massive rainstorm came in last night.

This office is the place where I most often write.  It is actually the place I spend most of my time.

I started thinking about what my office means to me because I've inadvertently been writing a series on place.  It began with a post last week on having a place to go in your writing.  Meaning, that you leave off in a place that will give you an easy starting point at your next writing session.  And then I wrote a post about the role of place in your writing.  What settings inspire you?  What locations do you set your characters in?

And so today it seems fitting to end this mini-series with a post on where you actually perform the magic.  I also recently wrote a post about organizing my office, which those of you who come here often know has been a long, drawn out process, mainly because I only find an hour here and there to work on it.  So my writing place is in transition at the moment.  When I return from Nashville mid-month, I'll be buying a complete new office set from Ikea, for which I can't wait. 

But even in its current almost-organized state, it is the place I love best.  And I loved it when it was terribly messy, too.  I love it because it is all me--my books, my supplies, my furniture choices, my weird things hanging on the wall, my bulletin board covered with nametags from conferences and old artwork the kids did  years ago.  I'm surrounded by my reference materials, including binders full of old stories that I've written and a shelf of my published books and magazine articles, and I love working in the midst of the fruits of my labors.

I haven't always had a room of my own in which to write.  I started out using a big old desk that came from my father's printing plant.  It was set up in the corner of our bedroom, and how we fit it in there, I don't know.  Then I set up a desk in a makeshift corner of the then-unfinished upstairs.  When a fire swept the second floor, it miraculously stopped just short of my office, meaning all my computer and all my old writing journals were spared.  (Though the cleaning crew who swept in to rid the house of the smell of smoke took every journal and wiped down every page.)

When we moved back in after the fire, I set up in a spare bedroom downstairs.  I loved that space, but my son claimed it for his bedroom.  So when my daughter went away to college, I claimed her upstairs bedroom, which I continue in to this day.  And even though I have a laptop and can write anywhere, I spend most days ensconced up here.  Sometimes I take my computer and hit the neighborhood coffee shop and upon occasion I go downstairs to the family room or the kitchen for a change of venue.  But most often I'm right here at my old desk, which is soon to be replaced by a new one. 

You don't have to to have a room of your own to write.  It is nice, that's for sure, and you deserve one.  But you don't have to have one.  Back in the day when my desk was in the bedroom, I often hauled the typewriter out to the kitchen table to write so I could keep a better eye on the kids.  But what you do need is at least a little bit of space to call your own, even if it is a cupboard that you store your papers and computer in and close up when it is not in use.  

So what about you?  Where do you write?  Do you like writing there or do you long for a different space?  Do you do your best writing at home, on a break from work, or at Starbucks?  I'd love to hear about the place you write.

I knew I was going to forget to put this in my Friday post and I did (shows you the power of intent). I'm the featured interviewee on Jim Harrington's blog today. Go visit now! Here's the address: http://sixquestionsfor.blogspot.com .

Friday Follies

So here it is, Friday again. Since I often have a busy day on Friday, and sometimes don't have a lot of time for a blog post, last week I asked for ideas about a short, useful feature to begin on Fridays.  I got lots of great suggestions, because, well, I have the best readers on the planet, and many of them centered around the idea of asking a question.

I have taken this idea and run with it.  However, me being me I am not content with one question when more would do.  I'm a novelist, not so much a short story writer (all my short stories end up long) and this pretty much sums up everything.  My motto in life is, more is better, and for living proof, come knock on my front door.

And so I am starting a series, in which we see how far we can go with the letter F and questions related thereof.  Some posts will be stand-alone, and some will be part of a mini-series.  When I run out of F-words (don't go there)that I like I will start with a different letter.  Or come up with a new plan.

Just to whet your whistle, next week I'm starting a series called Festive Fridays, because Fridays are festive and fun and that is one thing I love about them.  But until then, you need a question or two to ponder over the weekend, and I have one for you, but first I want to explain something.

When thinking about the questions I pose and answering them, bear in mind they can be used three ways:

1. Answer them for yourself.  Hopefully, they will be cause for some introspection and interesting journal entries.

2.  Answer them for a character.  This can be a great way to deepen your understanding of a character, fictional or otherwise.

3.  Answer them for the alien who lives next door.  Kidding!  Try answering them for both yourself and a character you are working on.  This is the approach that John DuFresne recommends in his new book on writing a novel called, Is Life Like This?  It is something I've always done and find very effective because getting to know yourself better helps you to understand others better.

Okay, without further ado, here are today's questions, keyed to the word folly, which in case you need a refresher means, according to Dictionary.com, a foolish, action, practice, or idea.  (It also once meant a revue with glamorous female performers but that is not common usage any more so we'll ignore it.)

So, where's the folly in you or your character's life?  What foolish action or idea are you hanging onto that it is time to let go of?  What foolish practice are you indulging in?  What would your life look like without all this foolishness in it?

A Place You Go

Yesterday I wrote a blog post called Have a Place to Go in Your Writing.  It was about how important it is to know where you are going when you begin a writing session.  You can go back and read it here, but you don't really have to in order to understand this post.

This whole thing about place grew out of a journal entry from a few weeks ago.  I started out by writing on the topic of yesterday's post--having a place to go in my work and what a difference that made.  And then the journal entry morphed into how important the concept of place itself is in my writing.  The fact that place is front and center in my work is not news to me.  I wrote my critical thesis for my MFA on the role of landscape as character in the works of Willa Cather and Flannery O'Connor.  (And for the record, I'm a huge, raving Cather fan.  O'Connor***, not so much.)

There's a scene in my recently completed novel where the heroine, Emma Jean, who is a bestselling novelist, dramatically announces to her husband, "I cannot live someplace that does not inspire me."  While this is true for me, what is even more true is that I can't write about a place that doesn't inspire me.  And, bear in mind, I use the term "inspire" loosely.  I love writing about LA, though I have no desire to live there.  But something about the place inspires me as a location.  Conversely, though Nashville is one of my absolute favorite places on the planet, I've not yet been able to write about it.  I've set fiction in Portland (where I live), in Santa Fe, and in Sun Valley, Idaho.  I love the Oregon Coast, but have never been able to use it as a setting.  Weird, huh?

 And furthermore, getting the location set is as important to me as coming up with a character to write about.  To me, a character is so intricately linked to place that if I change the place she lives, that can jinx the whole book.  And, if I don't have a place firmly in mind when I think up a character, there's a good chance the story won't go anywhere.

Perhaps this odd thing about place that I have is about wanting to explore the parameters of a location.  It may not be that I have to love the place to write about it, but just that I want to know more about it.  LA, for instance, despite the many times I've been there, is a vast mystery to me.  I still marvel at the sunshine, the palm trees, the freeways, the cars.  I am still amazed that people actually live there.  Manhattan is the same.  A couple years ago, attending a conference there, I rode in the back of a taxi from the airport, staring at people walking down the busy sidewalks, flabbergasted that so many people lived in this place where you can't see the sky.  Try as I might, I could not figure out what it would be like to live there.

And maybe that is what it is all about--trying to figure out what its like to live someplace else.  Because, really, isn't fiction all about trying to figure out the someplace else and the someone else?

Thoughts?  What role does place play in your work?  Is it important or something you don't really think about?  How do you choose a setting for your writing?

**The photo is of Laguna Beach, where my dear friend Julie Brickman lives.  I've had the picture on my computer for awhile, but I think it originally came from Wikipedia.

***Now that I've dissed Flannery O'Connor, let me point out that today is her birthday.  She was born on March 25, 1925.  I just learned this while finding the link for her.

Have a Place To Go in Your Writing

When writing, it is important to have a place to go. 

For instance, Ernest Hemingway always ended a writing session in the middle of a sentence, thus insuring that he had a place to go when he started the next day.  I've relearned this lesson over and over again in my own work.  If I wrap up a chapter all nice and neat, the next day I flounder about as I start a new chapter.  But if I leave myself some room to work, things go much easier.  

I am embarrassed to admit how many times I've scheduled a writing session, usually first thing in the morning because that is when I like to write fiction, and come to it unprepared.  And it is dangerous, for me at least, to be unprepared because that is when the internet and email beckon.  (I have this bad habit of clicking over to my email inboxes or yahoo home page when I stop to think.  I tell myself it is to give my brain a break, but...you can be the judge of that.)

When I am unprepared for a writing session, I lack clarity on what it is I want to write.  And clarity is one of the most important things, in writing and in life.  (Clearing is actually one of the seven practices of the prolific and prosperous writer that make up my Writing Abundance workshop.)  Without clarity, I have no place to go on the page.

But clarity can be ridiculously easy to come by, at least the kind required to know where you going when you turn on your computer and get ready to write.  It just takes a little advance thought.  So here are my best strategies for having a place to go on the page:

1.  Make Notes Ahead of Time.  In advance of your writing session, go through what info you've collected and make notes, either of where you are at or what you want to start.  If you know you are going to be working on a character sketch for your new novel, make a few quick notes.  Your amazing subconscious mind will take what you've written and start working on more.

2. Read Your Work Over.  Re-read what you've read, the night before if you can.  (This works especially great if you are going to get up and write first thing.)  Reading your work over reminds you of where you are, so you don't have to reinvent everything during your writing session.

3.  Make Like Hemingway.  Don't write to the end of a chapter.  Stop a few paragraphs short.  You can even go so far as to stop in the middle of a sentence, like Ernie did.  This automatically gives you a place to go.

4. Carry Your Work With You.  When I'm in the full heat of working on a novel, I carry the little spiral that I use for notes around with me everywhere.  Not only is it at the ready if I have an idea, but there's something about the act of carrying it around that acknowledges the novel's importance and keeps it front and center in my brain.

So those are my thoughts on always being ready.  What are yours?  Comment away.  And keep the phrase, have a place to go, in your fertile brains because I'm coming back to it tomorrow.

What Commitment Looks Like

It is 3 PM on a glorious spring day in Portland.  My cat's in the window making that weird clicking-in-the-back-of-the-throat sound that kitties make when they see birds or squirrels.  It's spring break, so every normal human is outside enjoying themselves.

Except me.

I'm sitting at my desk, near where Captain is making odd cat noises.  There's a nice breeze blowing in the window, but it is not the same thing as being outside, enjoying the day, taking a hike, hanging out in the park, sitting on the deck at the local pub, raising a glass.

So why don't I just quite whining and go do something?

Because I have a blog post to write.

I made a commitment to myself to write a blog post every day until further notice or some other unforeseen event makes it impossible.  I wanted to see if this would help my traffic (it has) and also lay the groundwork for some upcoming things like an ebook release and some day, the publication of my novel.  Also, because, um, I love writing these here posts and most days it is so much fun I can't believe I get paid for it (thank you Pinnacle Promotions for sponsoring links on my blog).

But some days it is 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I haven't blogged yet and I'd rather be doing anything than sitting at my computer wondering what to write.  But here I am.  And guess what?  This is what commitment looks like.  And commitment is what creates abundant writing careers.

And so here I sit until the blog post gets done.  And, amazingly, now it is.  And sitting here doing it reminds me, again, that this is what commitment is all about.

How about you?  What are you committed to?  How does that look in your life?

The Writing Process Redux

Every week my family gets together with my sister's family for dinner. We instituted this after my Mom died last year as a way to make sure that we all see each other regularly.  It has been a wonderful thing, and we guard our Sunday Supper time zealously.

Last night at Sunday Supper, in between everyone taking bets on when the son-in-law would finally arrive on his long drive home from the army in Texas, my brother-in-law asked me if I'd read the latest Time magazine.  When I said no, seeing as how I don't subscribe to Time, he said I absolutely had to read the interview with Elmore Leonard and found the magazine for me.

Besides marveling at the fact that Leonard has lived in Detroit since 1934, and still doesn't use a computer or email, the one thing my brother-in-law wanted to point out to me was when Leonard  said this: "You've got to write every day."

Where have we heard that before?  Why, perhaps right in these very posts.

I started off this morning intent on writing about the writing process.  I'm not sure why, since I wrote about it fairly recently, hence the word "redux" in the title.  (And even if I hadn't written about the writing process before I would have used that word, because, let's face it, redux is a great word.)

But then I started thinking about the Elmore Leonard article and his commandment to write every day.  And then, after I pondered some more (the very strong coffee I'm drinking helped), I realized that I what I needed to write about today is the intersection of the writing process and writing every day.  If I could draw a Venn diagram, it would be the place in the middle where the two circles meet.

Because writing every day, no matter what stage of the writing process you are in, is what makes your dreams happen.  Whether you are writing a rough draft, or working on one of many rewrites, writing every day helps you to stay connected to your work, and keep the momentum going.  Plus, it reminds you that you are a writer, which is easy to forget in this busy world.  And I find that if I've done the most important thing first, ie, writing, that everything else falls into place.

So, writing every day + the writing process = finished products.

Now, here's the question of the day.  In my search for an image of a Venn diagram, I found the above on Wikipedia.  However, it has three circles, when my example only has two, the writing process and writing every day.  So, say we named this Venn diagram The Writing Life, what would you name the third circle?

Friday Question

Friday is often a busy day for me.  For whatever reason, lately my entire afternoon has been taken up with appointments.  And I just about always go out to dinner with family and friends on Friday night, because, I'll be honest, by Friday I really want a glass of wine.

And, for whatever reason again, I have committed to writing a blog post every weekday, Monday through Friday.  Most days it is not a problem.  But often I get to Friday and feel rushed and end up wanting to post something short-ish but not knowing exactly what to write.

And then it occurred to me that others have solved this problem already.  Some do a Friday quote.  Others do a guest post on Fridays.  Or post a funny picture.  Or something...

So here's the deal.  I'm asking you, my wonderful readers, for ideas of something short yet useful to you, that I could post on Fridays.  A photo?  A quote? (I've got tons of those saved up in random places.) A question pertaining to writing or creativity?  A prompt? A guest post? Favorite link of the week?  An idea for a creative project?

Gee, I have more ideas for this than I thought--that's what happens when you start writing stuff down.  But I want to know what would be useful to you, so have it and comment away.  Give me a new idea or vote for one of the ones I already mentioned.

Photo by desi.Italy, used under Creative Commons 2.5 license. 

On American Soil

As of yesterday, my son-in-law, he who has been deployed in Kuwait and Iraq all year, is back in America.  Home.  Not home home yet, as the army has all kinds of things they do to returning soldiers at Fort Hood.  But back in the United States. 

Everyone is breathing easier and sleeping better.

No longer do I have to hide newspaper articles about deaths in Iraq or be sure to keep the TV and radio off if my daughter happens to be around.  No longer do I have to fret about what might happen.  No longer do I have to defend the army to others.

It's not like my son-in-law is a gung-ho soldier type.  No, he was one of many who signed up after September 11th, served his four years, and expected never to hear from the army again.  Until they called him back up, completely out of the blue, last January. 

And we're the complete opposite of an army family.  Born and raised Unitarian, liberal, peace-loving, we've never even really known people in the army.  Until now.  And suddenly this puts a whole new spin on things.  I'm not a fan of the war in Iraq, but I am a passionate fan of the soldiers who are serving there.  Now, when I walk through an airport and see a soldier, I smile and sometimes I say, "Thank you for serving us."  I would have thought that was so corny a year-and-a-half ago.

The great thing about being a writer is that every experience, bad or good, has meaning.  This experience has taught me to walk a mile in another's shoes.  Well, not exactly, because I've not experienced the rigors of war.  But to be suddenly pushed into looking at certain things in a different way does wonders for one's world view. 

My daughter has borne the brunt of this, of course.  And watching her deal with her new husband's absence for a year, here's what I've learned:

Shit Happens.  Usually there's no why.  Bad things generally aren't traceable back to anything you did.  (Except for obvious things like the person who gets lung cancer from smoking a pack a day.) So there's really nothing to be gained by wringing your hands and asking, "why?" because there is no answer.   You'll be better served to ask "how?" as in, "how am I going to get through this?"

Connection Matters.  Everyone in my daughter's circle of family and friends has grown accustomed to her carrying her phone around with her every second, waiting for a call, which could sometimes come at odd times.  We've become used to her excusing herself at dinner or in the middle of a shopping trip when he calls.  No matter what she's doing, she drops everything and talks to him.  And that is precisely why they've managed to remain so close throughout this year.  Connection matters, whether it is connecting with other people, God (see below), or other writers.

Prayer Helps.  I've never been religious (I was raised Unitarian, after all) but I do consider myself to be very spiritual.  I don't know if prayer really influences events--though I like to think it does--but I don know that it is a comfort, and we need to take our comfort wherever we can find it.

What about you? Have you experienced any big life events that have taught you important lessons?  Comment away.

On American Soil

As of yesterday, my son-in-law, he who has been deployed in Kuwait and Iraq all year, is back in America.  Home.  Not home home yet, as the army has all kinds of things they do to returning soldiers at Fort Hood.  But back in the United States. 

Everyone is breathing easier and sleeping better.

No longer do I have to hide newspaper articles about deaths in Iraq or be sure to keep the TV and radio off if my daughter happens to be around.  No longer do I have to fret about what might happen.  No longer do I have to defend the army to others.

It's not like my son-in-law is a gung-ho soldier type.  No, he was one of many who signed up after September 11th, served his four years, and expected never to hear from the army again.  Until they called him back up, completely out of the blue, last January. 

And we're the complete opposite of an army family.  Born and raised Unitarian, liberal, peace-loving, we've never even really known people in the army.  Until now.  And suddenly this puts a whole new spin on things.  I'm not a fan of the war in Iraq, but I am a passionate fan of the soldiers who are serving there.  Now, when I walk through an airport and see a soldier, I smile and sometimes I say, "Thank you for serving us."  I would have thought that was so corny a year-and-a-half ago.

The great thing about being a writer is that every experience, bad or good, has meaning.  This experience has taught me to walk a mile in another's shoes.  Well, not exactly, because I've not experienced the rigors of war.  But to be suddenly pushed into looking at certain things in a different way does wonders for one's world view. 

My daughter has borne the brunt of this, of course.  And watching her deal with her new husband's absence for a year, here's what I've learned:

Shit Happens.  Usually there's no why.  Bad things generally aren't traceable back to anything you did.  (Except for obvious things like the person who gets lung cancer from smoking a pack a day.) So there's really nothing to be gained by wringing your hands and asking, "why?" because there is no answer.   You'll be better served to ask "how?" as in, "how am I going to get through this?"

Connection Matters.  Everyone in my daughter's circle of family and friends has grown accustomed to her carrying her phone around with her every second, waiting for a call, which could sometimes come at odd times.  We've become used to her excusing herself at dinner or in the middle of a shopping trip when he calls.  No matter what she's doing, she drops everything and talks to him.  And that is precisely why they've managed to remain so close throughout this year.  Connection matters, whether it is connecting with other people, God (see below), or other writers.

Prayer Helps.  I've never been religious (I was raised Unitarian, after all) but I do consider myself to be very spiritual.  I don't know if prayer really influences events--though I like to think it does--but I don know that it is a comfort, and we need to take our comfort wherever we can find it.

What about you? Have you experienced any big life events that have taught you important lessons?  Comment away.

Turning Your Head Around

No, I'm not going to talk about the Linda Blair move from The Exorcist.

This post is about changing your mindset.  (I wrote a post earlier this week about the success mindset, and this is yet different from that, too.)  Specifically, changing your mindset when you are working on something that is hard.

Yesterday, I was hard at work on a project, hard being the operative word, and I was cranky.  The piece was complicated and it required deep concentration and a lot of thought.  The deeper I got into, the crankier I got and I soon I was whining up a storm.  Which, of course, only made everything more difficult.  But ultimately, it was me that was making it more difficult, because I was psyching myself out about how hard it was.

Duh.

So I stopped myself and my chattering brain for a moment and took stock.  I had already:

• Put together all the research I needed
• Gotten clear on the audience
• Developed a loose outline

So what was the problem?  I needed to change my mindset.  Instead of bitching and moaning about the project, I needed to generate some enthusiasm.  And here's how I did that:

Remember the Vision

I asked myself, why was I doing this in the first place?  For love, money, prestige, career enhancement? The why doesn't matter so much as re-connecting to it.  If it is a project you are doing strictly for the money, envision depositing your fee in your checking account, or seeing a payment coming through on Paypal.  If it is for love, remind yourself what it is about the project that attracted you to it in the first place.  

Get Really Clear

All success starts with clarity.  You need to know where you're going before you get there.  If you get very clear on the parameters of the project, you'll have a much easier time.  As I've mentioned before, when something isn't working, there's a reason.  You may need more clarity.  Go back and look at your outline, or write one up if you haven't already.

Focus

Maybe you are struggling because your mindset is diluted and vague.  I'm a complete and total email and internet whore, but even I have to once in awhile shut down all inboxes and websites in order just to concentrate on the task at hand.  It is amazing how much minor distractions can pull at us and make us feel antsy and unhappy.  

Think About the Who

In fiction, it is the characters who matter.  In life, it is other people.  Sometimes it helps me to remember that.  So if I'm bogged down in a project, I think about the people I'm doing it for, how I'm helping them, how happy they are going to be to get this information, and so on.  If that doesn't work, because, say, I hate the people I'm doing the project for (rare, as I'm sort of a people whore also), then I think about the people in my life that I love, and remember that if I buckle down and get the project done I can go spend time with them.

Usually, I find that I can change my mindset by really thinking about one of these things.  What about you?  How do you change your mindset when it isn't working?

(And remember, if you try and try to change your mindset but don't seem to be able to, maybe you need the help of a coach.  Email me for more information.)

PS--I tried and tried to find a photo of Linda Blair with her head turning around to illustrate this post, but to no avail.

What's Your Favorite Book?

I have a reason for asking the question in the title.

I've been going on and on about how I'm re-organizing my office, down to sorting through the oldest papers. And the work continued this weekend.  I'm down to a box of old CDs to sort, which I'm not entirely sure what to do with, and a pile of papers and notebooks and files which constitutes all the info I've collected to write my Ebook.  Pretty cool, huh?

But here's the coolest thing.  I sorted through my books and came up with three boxes of them to sell.  I used to have a really hard time getting rid of books, whether by giving them away or selling them.  I wanted to hang onto every book I've ever laid hands on.  And if you could see the overflowing book shelves in practically every room in my house, you would think I had.  But it finally occurred to me that by letting go of books, I was actually allowing more to flow into my life.  And also that letting go of them allowed someone else to read them. 

So I've come to peace with periodically sorting through books.  And luckily for me, here in Portland, we have Powell's books, the biggest bookstore in the country, which also buys books.   When you sell them your books, they give you the option of either taking what you've earned in cash or in a book credit.  If you choose the book credit, you get more. 

Now, let me tell you, many's the time we've taken books to Powell's when we were so broke we didn't have any choice but to take the cash.  But this weekend, when we took books in to the warehouse to sell, I was able to choose the book credit.  So...wait for it....I now have a book voucher worth $144 in books to spend at Powell's.

I about passed out with joy when they told me.

I've been collecting some titles that I really want to read--a couple new novels, one called Angelology and another called The Irresistible Henry House, and there's a new book on writing a novel in six months by John DuFresne.  Okay, so that's a pretty good list.  But I may get to Powell's and decide none of those look good.  And I'd like to bring home some juicy non-fiction, too.

I want more titles to peruse, a long, long list to ponder and think about and take with me so that I can pull books off the shelf and think hmmm, yes, or ick, no.  So help me out here, will you?  Tell me your favorite books.  They can be classic or contemporary, fiction or non-fiction, written by male or female authors.  I love books in the self-help and spiritual genres, but really, I'm game for anything.   Send me one title or a dozen, I'm not picky, just lay 'em on me.

I can't wait to read what your favorites are.

The Mindset of Success

This morning I was writing about a character.  Her arc is to go from being what she considers to be a failure, to suddenly experiencing great success.  So as I was tracing this movement, I started thinking about how to show what her failure looked like and felt like to her, and then what her success would look like and feel like also.

As always, writing is life and life is writing. The thought occurred to me that this is a good exercise to do for anyone who wants more success in their life.  What makes you feel successful?  How do you feel inside when you are successful?  How do you behave?  What actions do you take? What are the outer trappings of your success? 

Conversely, how does failure make you feel? How do you act and present yourself when you feel beaten down and discouraged?  What does failure look like in your world?

I have some ideas that are not yet fully formed about this topic.  A vague starting point:

Successful people hold themselves well, stand up straight, meet your eyes and have a firm handshake.  Duh.  Beyond that, there's a sparkle in their eye, a zest for life that shows in the way they dress and walk.  They don't hesitate--in any situation, they take action.  Outwardly, they care for themselves and their surroundings well.

Failures slump over and their eyes are dead.  They meander through their days instead of walking purposefully.  Nothing much excites them so they spend a lot of time idly flipping through web pages that don't really interest them on the internet.  Their surroundings are shabby and they don't much care.

What else?  What am I missing?  I want to know because this information bears on my character, but I also think it bears on all of us.  What does success look like to you?  To me success means getting a novel published and no matter what else I accomplish (and I have plenty of unrelated goals, such as write an Ebook and start a coaching program), until I publish a novel I'll not feel fully successful.  What does that say about me? 

The more I think about it, the more this topic of inner and outer success interests me.  I think it is worthy of thought and writing about to explore how you really feel about it.  Because once you know what success looks like for you, you can begin to take steps to achieve it.  Probably I'll be doing lots of writing about it through the creation of this new character, which will have a bearing on my own life.

So let me know what your thoughts are about success.  What will make you finally feel successful?  Or maybe you already do--and if so, what contributes to that feeling?  I'm all ears. 

***The awesome photo is from sandcastlematt, found on Everystockphoto, used under Creative Commons 2.5 license.

When Something Isn't Working

When something isn't working, there's a reason.  

I know.

Duh.

But how many times have you sat at your computer, beating your head against your desk, trying to make something work that isn't working?  Trying to force a character to do something she doesn't want to do, or writing a scene in a location that just doesn't resonate with you, or creating a plot point that seems forced and unnatural?

I've done this a million times, doggedly writing even when the nagging voice inside of me informs me that something is wrong.  Something isn't working.

And often it takes quite awhile before I listen.

It happened again earlier this week.  I've been diligently getting up to work on my novel first thing every morning.  I love, love, love the idea for the plot of the novel.  But I've not been able to wrap my brain around the protagonist.  No matter what I did, I couldn't bond with her.  Couldn't feel her voice inside me or get it onto the page.  But I kept writing, telling myself that the voice would come.  Except finally, one morning, I realized that what I was writing was so dull and lifeless that nobody, even me, would want to write it.

Now, I know full well that it is not a good thing to listen to such voices when you are writing. Except for when it is.  

When you are writing and writing and begin to feel like your driving a car on snow and you can't get any traction, it is maybe time to take a wee break and ponder. Which is what I did.  Luckily, on the day I decided it was time to hit the brakes and quit spinning my wheels, I had an appointment with my coach.  We discussed the problem in detail and I finally realized that I was trying to force myself to write about a character in a profession I knew nothing about and didn't care to learn.  So that gave me the freedom and the courage to start over--not with the plot, but with the character.

But, here's the deal.  If I hadn't been writing, I wouldn't have figured out that it wasn't going to work.  If I had sat around thinking about it, I'd still be sitting around thinking about it.  I wouldn't have discovered that there was a reason for my writing paralysis.  And so, even though in some ways I've gone backwards, today I'm a happy camper. 

Because knowing what's wrong lights a path to change it.  And, figuring out that there is something wrong in the first place is sometimes the most illuminating moment of all.

What about you?  How do you figure out when something is wrong?

Make Work

"Make work" is my all-purpose notation to myself that I use for both notes and on manuscripts.   It is shorthand for "Make it work," and a very handy two words.

If I'm writing notes, and they are a bit sketchy, I add, "make work," because I know in my brain what I mean, I just might not want to take the time to write it all out--these are notes, not the full manuscript, after all.

If I'm editing a manuscript and something needs fleshing out, I'll write the notation, "Make work."

"Make work" can apply to fleshing out a character, dealing with a plot issue, adding in more description, anything.  It is a sign to myself that something isn't working.  Something needs to be dealt with or looked at more deeply.

This week what I needed to make work was a whole lot deeper than most.  It involved re-thinking an entire project, about which I will write more tomorrow or next week.  The experience has also got me re-thinking various aspects of my life.  To wit:

• What do I need to make work better?
• What things am I holding onto, trying to make work, that I should instead let go of?
• What else needs a make work notation in my life--where are things too sketchy?
• What ideas in my brain need a make work note to bring them to life in the real world?

How about you?  What do you need to make work in your life or writing?

The Writer's Paradox

 
Scenario #One:  Life is going well.  Really well.  Your relationships are all in great shape, you're healthy, you eat right and exercise regularly.  Your like your job, you have a great place to live, you love your pets, the sun is shining.  However, your writing sucks.  Nothing that you write works.  You can't get your latest project off the ground to save your life. You wake feeling that something is wrong and you go to bed distracted and irritated.  And so, plain and simple, you are miserable. 

Scenario #Two:  Life is hell.  Your marriage is on life support, your kids are screw-ups, you're overweight and you consider taking the elevator up four floors to your tiny apartment exercise.  You've just endured the worst winter on record and your job is about to become the latest victim of the recession.  However, your writing is going great!  You wake up energized, ready to get to work, and the words flow easily.  And because of this, you are happy as can be.

If I'm writing, all is right with the world.  And it doesn't matter what else is happening in my life, I'm still happy.  Writing well gives me energy and clarity and makes me feel I can deal with anything.  But if I'm not writing well, everything feels sludgy and gray.

Isn't this an odd paradox?

The only other thing I can liken it to is kids and their mothers.  Years ago, I read an article in which Nora Ephron discussed child rearing.  She said that if you gave kids a choice of having their mother, blissfully happy, but far away, or mom, desperately unhappy, but available in the other room, they'll take the latter option any day. Which, in my experience, is true.  Kids don't want their moms happy, they just want their moms, period.

I'm not even sure exactly how that relates to the writer's paradox but I feel it deep in my bones that it does.  I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that writing is so ingrained in me that it dictates the sheer essence of my being, moreso than anything else in my life.  Like a child depending on his mother, I rely on my writing to get me through.

Is this true for you? Or am I just a total whack job?  Please tell me it is true for you, too.

**Photo by clspeace, found via Flickr on Everystockphoto and used under Creative Commons 2.5 license.

My Old Friend Paralysis

Yesterday, all writing and other activities came to a screeching halt.  This happened suddenly.  One minute I was in the middle of a writing session.  The next minute I was paralyzed.  I realized that everything I had written was complete and total crap.  And that there was no use writing anymore, ever, for the rest of my life, because any new words that I put on the page would be even worse. 

Because of this epiphany that I could no longer write, I turned my attention to my to-do list, as long as always.  But nothing on it interested me. 

"Buck up", I told myself.  "It isn't supposed to interest you, it's your to-do list."

But I couldn't connect with a single item on it. Instead, I sat at my desk, paralyzed everywhere except for my over-active brain, which told me I was an impostor, a failure and stupid and unattractive to boot. This went on for a few minutes until I finally got up and cleaned the kitty litter.  Did some dishes and straightened the house.  These are all chores that generally go undone until I run and do it all in a panic at the last minute before someone gets home.  By the time I'd exhausted all the mind-numbing chores, I had only a few minutes left to write.  I forced myself back to it, and got some words on the page.  They weren't words that I was happy with, but they were words on the page.  By then, it was time to go to my acupuncture appointment, thank you God.

My acupuncturist, Hana, listened to my whining, told me I was probably having a healing crisis (I've been doing lots of acupuncture and hypnotherapy lately) and stuck extra needles in my crown and third eye chakras.  During the rest time, I dozed and snored for awhile, and then I woke up and started thinking about the novel.  Thoughts and ideas flooded in.  Oh wonderful movement, which feels so much better than being stuck!

I came home and made notes, not only on the novel but the entire process of being stuck.  And here are some of the antidotes I came up with, just in case this ever happens to you:

1.  Choose something, anything to do or work on, it doesn't matter what.  This is the Tough Love antidote.  May not be pleasant, but it will probably work.

2. Get in touch.  Maybe you've lost your connection.  Meditate.  Go deep.  What do you really want to write?  What do you really want to do at this moment?

3. Get away.  Go for a walk, clean the kitty litter, do the grocery shopping, whatever.  Sometimes just getting up from my desk allows the ideas to flow again.

4.  Move your body.  Take a walk, do yoga or Qi Gong, dance, march in place.  It is amazing how moving the body can sometimes loosen a logjam in the brain.

5. Take a nap.  If all else fails, sleep.

6.  Do something that gives you confidence.  Go back to something you're really good at and work on that for awhile.  It'll give you a boost.

7.  Listen to a motivational CD.  Never underestimate the power of some rah-rah attitude!  I put a CD in on my drive to acupuncture and it was already helping to lift my mood by the time I got there.

Okay, so those are my suggestions.  Anyone have an antidote to add?